Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples: Remarks by Commissioner Chartrand, Question by Commissioner Erasmus and responses by Relocatees
| Database ID | 30794 | |
| Institution | University of Saskatchewan Archives | |
| Fonds/Collection | Native Law Centre fonds | |
| File/Item Reference | Reference Library, RCAP vol. 107 (Box 17) | |
| Date of creation | April 6, 1993 | |
| Physical description/extent | 25 pgs | |
| Number of images | 1 | |
| Scope and content | File contains remarks by Commissioner Paul Chartrand who thanks the participants in this sitting of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples and asks for more time in order to reflect and prepare questions. Commissioner Georges Erasmus then questions the High Arctic Relocatees about the instructions given them on how to interact with the Greenland Inuit in the area, and whether they were told to discourage them from coming, and what they were told about them. EN explains that they were only told to discourage the Greenlanders from harvesting polar bears in Canada, and that their presence interfered with the Greenlander tradition of making pants from polar bear skins as the relocatees used the pelts for trade. LA discusses relations between the relocated population and the Greenland Inuit which he characterizes as friendly. SE states that she believes the Canadian government sent the relocatees to permanently occupy Ellesmere Island so they could lay claim to it internationally, despite the Canadian government's denial that this was the case. SA states that the Canadian Inuit were relocated to Ellesmere to discourage the Greenland Inuit from their traditional practice of harvesting polar bears and musk oxen in Canada. EN explains how it was only through contact with the Greenlanders that the Canadian relocatees were able to find where the fish and wildlife were concentrated for harvesting purposes, and that without their knowledge of the land and sea they would have been unable to do so. Commissioner Erasmus then asks the relocatees to clarify earlier statements from the day about Caribou harvesting and what was considered permissable by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. SA and SE respond that Caribou hunting was restricted to certain areas, and in these areas the populations were nearly non-existant. Following further questioning by Commissioner Erasmus SA and SE discuss caribou hunting spaces and regulations. AI and JA discuss caribou huting regulations. SA and AI discuss caribou hunting in Quebec in response to a question by Commissioner Erasmus. EN, SA, and JA discuss the relationship between the relocatees and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in response to questioning by Commissioner Erasmus. | |
| Other terms governing use and reproduction | Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples - Transcriptions of Public Hearings and Round Table Discussions, 1992-1993. Reproduced with the permission of the Minister of Public Works and Government Services, and Courtesy of the Privy Council Office, 2008. | |
| Type | Published | |
| Primary Media | Textual documents | |
| Provenance Access Point | University of Saskatchewan. Native Law Centre | |
| Other notes | Volume 2, Ottawa, Ontario. April 6, 1993. Pages 265-290. | |
| Place | Ottawa, Ontario, Canada | |
| Treaty boundaries | No treaty Canada -- National Canada -- National | |
| Cultural region | Arctic Canada -- National International | |
| Names | Chartrand, Paul, 1943- Erasmus, Georges Henry, 1948- (Chief) Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples Simon, Mary | |
| Subject | Government commissions -- Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples Hunting and Trapping Wildlife management International relations Inuit Affairs -- Lifestyle Inuit Affairs Relocation Royal Canadian Mounted Police Government policy Indigenous Relations | |
| Date Range(s) | 1990-1999 | |
| Permanent Link | https://digital.scaa.sk.ca/ourlegacy/permalink/30794
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